1. Petri Haapalainen Jyväskylä 7 April 2006
European Regional and Structural Policy – focus on European Territorial Co-operation (Objective 3)
Petri Haapalainen Jyväskylä 7 April 2006

2. Goal-oriented development
The European Union regional and structural policy increases the economic and social cohesion of the Member States as well as decreases differences in development between the regions, which, in the long run, will benefit the whole of Europe. Common objectives have been approved to direct the support.

3. Objectives of the Regional and Structural Policy 2000 - 2006
Objective 1: promoting the development and structural adjustment or regions whose development is lagging behind
Objective 2: supporting the economic and social conversion of areas facing structural difficulties
Objective 3: supporting the adaptation and modernisation of policies and systems of education, training and employment

4. Community Initiatives 2000 - 2006
complement the Objective Programmes
promote transnational and interregional co-operation and innovative operations as well as the dissemination of good practices also across national borders
Four Community Initiatives are running during the current programming period (INTERREG, URBAN, Leader, Equal)

5. Community Initiatives 2000 - 2006
INTERREG supports cross-border, transnational and interregional co-operation
URBAN seeks the economic and social regeneration of declined URBAN regions
Leader aims to diversify economic opportunities in rural regions and increase co-operation between their inhabitants
Equal combats discrimination and inequality in the workplace through international co-operation

6. Structural Funds as tools 2000 - 2006
Cohesion Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
The European Social Fund (ESF)
The European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF)
The Financial Instrument for Fisheries guidance (FIFG)

7. Objectives of the Regional and Structural Policy 2007 - 2013
”Convergence” objective (Objective 1)
”Regional Competitiveness and Employment” objective (Objective 2)
”European Territorial Co-operation” objective (Objective 3)
No Community Initiatives any more

8. Convergence objective 2007 - 2013
is to cover the Member States and regions whose development is lagging behind; the regions targeted by this objective are those whose per capita gross domestic product (GDP) measured in purchasing power parities is less than 75 % of the Community average

9. Regional Competitiveness and Employment objective 2007 - 2013
is to cover the territory of the Community outside the ”Convergence” objective; the regions eligible are those under Objective 1 in the 2000 – 2006 programming period which no longer satisfy the regional eligibility criteria of the ”Convergence” objective and which therefore benefit from a transitional aid, as well as all the other regions of the Community

10. European Territorial Co-operation objective 2007 - 2013
is to cover regions having land or sea frontiers, the areas for transnational cooperation defined with regard to actions promoting integrated territorial development and support for interregional cooperation and exchange of experience

11. Structural Funds as tools 2007 - 2013
Less Funds than in the previous period:
Cohesion Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
The European Social Fund (ESF)

12. New Objective 3: European Territorial Co-operation
From a Community Initiative to an Objective in its own right
Somewhat higher financing
€ 5.8 billion → € 7.3 billion

13. New Objective 3: financial framework
Present programmes
Financial perspective
Cross-border co-operation
3998 mio €
5621 mio €
Transnational co-operation
1394 mio €
1387 mio €
Interregional co-operation (incl. INTERREG IIIC,URBACT, ESPON, INTERACT)
406 mio €
292 mio €
Total
5799 mio €
7300 mio €

14. New Co-operation objective
Cross-border co-operation 77.61% *
Transnational co-operation %*
Interregional co-operation 3.89%
In addition, interregional co-operation with regions in other Member State will be encouraged in Convergence and Competitiveness programmes
Co-financing rate: up to 75%-85%
Altogether 12,1 % has been proposed to be transferred from Objective 3 ERDF-allocation from the Member States concerned to the external instruments (ENPI and IPA)
*) Flexibility at Member State level: +/- 10%

15. Co-operation projects 2007-2013 Financial instruments
Cohesion policy:
Objective 3 – European Territorial Co-operation
Policy for External relations:
European Neighbourhood and Partnership instrument (ENPI)
Instrument for Pre-accession (IPA) for (incl. future) candidate countries

16. Cross-border co-operation along external borders
12.1% of the Objective 3-allocation has been proposed to be transferred to the budget for external relations
→ Most external EU-borders will therefore not be covered by cross-border Objective 3 programmes (Cohesion policy)
Instead they will be covered by ENPI or IPA-programmes (External relations)

17. Today 62 cross-border programmes

18. Internal cross-border co-operation
Regions eligible for cross-border co-operation

19. Cross-border co-operation: programme structure
The addition of many maritime borders will change the eligible programme areas considerably
General approach: reduce the number of programmes whenever possible, as a high number of small programmes and excessive administration costs would not seem sensible
Larger co-operation areas may bring in new innovative projects
As some topics of cross-border and transnational programmes may overlap, especially after the inclusion of many maritime borders, coherence between cross-border and transnational programmes should be ensured already at the programming stage

20. Cross border co-operation: programme structure
The Commission is involved in a process of discussion with Member States aiming at agreeing the programmes and their managing structures so that the programming process can proceed
Programmes along all borders
Programme for each border or group of borders
Small programmes to be merged in order to diminish bureaucracy and administrative burden. Subprogrammes or specific priorities possible where necessary
Trilateral/quadrilateral programmes and merging small cross-border programmes might in several cases offer interesting co-operation possibilities. Projects may still be bilateral

21. Co-operation programmes
Strand A Cross-border co-operation
for solving local problems
include strategic projects, especially along maritime borders
Strand B Transnational co-operation
- no longer studies and plans but concrete, strategic projects important for the whole area
Strand C Interregional co-operation
- exchange of experiences and best practices to improve regional policy design

22. Cross-border programmes essentially local in nature, but include strategic projects at least along maritime borders
Entrepreneurship and SMEs, tourism, culture and cross-border trade
Protection and joint management of the environment
Better access to transport
Information and communication networks
Water, waste management and energy management systems
Joint use of health, culture and education infrastructure
Judicial and administrative co-operation
Important issues in the programming process:
individual programmes should become more focussed
more focussed calls and commissioned projects

23. Transnational co-operation
Allocation principle: national population
More strategic approach, well planned projects coordinated at national level
Focus on
innovation, RTD, enterprises
environment, water management, risk prevention, incl. maritime safety
improved accessibility, transport, information and communication technology
urban development

24. Transnational co-operation
Higher profile programmes
Concrete projects with some investments
Networking, plans and studies only to prepare concrete projects
Some strategic projects developed by the programme, involving both regional and national authorities - some of these projects may be written into the Programming document
Not only open calls for proposal but also focussed calls
Can spend 20% outside the eligible area
Can spend 10% outside the EU, if for benefit of the EU regions

25. Transnational co-operation: programme structure
13 programme areas agreed
The Commission is involved in a process of discussion with Member States programme by programme aiming at agreeing the programmes and their managing structures as soon as possible so that the programming process can proceed

26. Project ideas
Maritime safety initiative (already initiated by the North Sea programme and now joint for 5 transnational programmes)
Business co-operation and technology transfer between SMEs, research institutes, universities and regional development agencies to improve the competitiveness of the regions
Protection against flooding
Combating environmental threats
Co-operation between coastal ports and towns to improve accessibility and transport interoperability

27. Two approaches to interregional co-operation
Interregional co-operation under Objective 3
Interregional co-operation encouraged also within Objective 1 and 2 programmes

28. Interregional co-operation Number of partner organisations per EU Member States

29. Interregional co-operation programmes foreseen
Thematic interregional co-operation programme focusing on Lisbon and Gothenburg priorities (based on INTERREG IIIC)
Studies, data collection, observation and analysis of development trends, small spatial planning projects (developed on the basis of ESPON)
Identification, transfer and dissemination of best practice in management of co-operation programmes (developed on the basis of INTERACT)
Framework programme for the exchange of experiences on urban renewal (developed on the basis of URBACT)

30. Thematic interregional co-operation programme
Strong focus on Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas, topics in line with topics from "Regional competitiveness and employment" objective
Simple, transparent and consistent programme framework for project applicants
Thematically organised application and selection processes
Systematic analysis of project results and dissemination ensuring easy access to best practice examples for regional policy makers

31. Interregional co-operation in Objective 1 and 2 programmes
Inclusion of a specific priority for interregional co-operation in Objective 1 and 2 programmes (optional)
Will allow co-operation between objective 1 and 2 regions and between regions of the same objective
Interregional co-operation can cover common topics of the programmes
Each project partner funds own activities from respective programme

32. Cross-border and transnational co-operation:
Programme structures to support true co-operation projects of high quality
Cross-border and transnational co-operation:
Partners from at least two countries
Fulfill at least 2 of the following 4
co-operation criteria:
joint project development
joint implementation
joint project staff
joint financing

33. Programme management structures: well working and cost-effective
Managing Authority (MA)
Good management capacity as tasks are complex, particularly for transnational and interregional programmes.
Joint Technical Secretariat (JTS)
Strong secretariat with international profile capable of supporting the MA effectively
Provide help and support to projects at all stages
Process applications and organise expert assessments
Criteria defined for good MA+JTS
Monitoring Committee
Normally also responsible for project selection

34. Programme structures to support true co-operation projects of high quality
No pre-allocations to different regions nor Member States participating in the programme
Projects should compete on the basis of quality and relevance
However, specific priorities or subprogrammes will be accepted
True Lead Partner (LP) projects, where the LP is responsible for implementing the whole project and concludes agreement with MA and with the beneficiaries participating in the operation (project partners)
Mirror projects only exceptionally

35. Programme and management structures to support projects of high quality
Avoid potential conflicts of interest and apply transparent procedures:
Use external experts to make an initial assessments of projects, especially in those cases where the region managing the programme is also participating in a project
The Joint Technical Secretariat or a Member of the Monitoring and Steering Committee should not be involved in managing a project

36. European Territorial Co-operation programmes
Time-table for programming
Programmes aim at starting in the beginning of 2007
First drafts of programmes in June-July 2006
Discussions going on concerning the new programmes between Member States and the Commission